Practical Idea for Protecting the Home

Practical Idea for Protecting the Home

This article is another example of utilizing some of the theoretical rules discussed with respect to the home. This article addresses the two-year rule pursuant to which an applicant can transfer her home to a child and, if the child lives in the home for two years and provides care so that the mother need not go in a nursing home, the transfer would be exempt from the transfer rules (see Post 6).

The typical example would be Mrs. Jones owns a home and some other minor assets. Mrs. Jones is not ready to go into a nursing home but is declining to some extent.

Her daughter, Diane, is single and would like to take care of her mother.

Rather than the house be sold and the mother go into a nursing home, Diane would move in with Mrs. Jones and provide such care as to satisfy the two-year rule. Hopefully, Diane would be able to reside with her mother for two-years prior to application for Medicaid. In this way, the home would be saved and transferred to Diane, who happens to be the mother’s sole heir.

See Post 6, which discusses the two-year rule in more detail.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice and each person may have unique facts for which legal consultation may be necessary.

June 2009, Post #41